626 squadron

626 Squadron and RAF wickenby

During
RAF Wickenby's short active service 1080 lives
were lost from the base. This sacrifice is
commemorated by a memorial with the form of
Icarus on an obelisk at the entrance to the
airfield. Today the site is a private airfield
used as an aviation school and
is home to The RAF Wickenby Memorial Museum.It
was the home of 12 Squadron and 626 Squadron of
No 1 Group, RAF Bomber Command.

During
hostilities, over 300 operations were flown from
the airfield with 166 bombers reported missing,
all but six being Lancasters. Another 30
aircraft were lost in operational crashes.

626
Squadron was formed in November 1943 with two
flights of eight aircraft. 'A' Flight was
originally 12 Squadron's 'C' Flight and 'B'
Flight was made up from Lancasters arriving from
factories and other units.Its first operation
was to bomb the Western entrance to the
Montcenis tunnel in the French Alps on the 10th
of November 1943.

In
total the number of sorties flown by 626
Squadron were 2728. Aircraft lost on operations
49 and non-operational losses 11. It bombed 187
targets and laid mines in 18 areas.

If
you start a major world war you expect to get a
bloody nose. Any country that was faced with
Nazi Germany did everything it could to make
sure that they lost. It's always unfortunate
when people get killed, particularly civilians
and children, but you should not start wars. We
did what was absolutely necessary. We did a
great deal in shortening the length of that war.
I don't think any one of those young men who
died would have felt any differently. I didn't
expect to survive, not in any morbid way, but
because I felt I was doing something that had to
be done in order to save this country from a
fate worse than death.

War is horrible; war is immoral. But you fight
it the way you can. Look what happens to
innocent civilians when armies roll across great
territories and take cities. How many civilians
died at Stalingrad? Outside Moscow? Or
Leningrad? We were fighting one of the most
immoral entities on the planet, and we had to
fight it the best way we could. I just cannot
and will never accept that bombing Germany was
immoral.'

Air Marshal Sir John
Curtiss KCB - Bomber Command navigator

A

see youtube video

An interesting
story about a vase emerged in November 2010 involving
626 Squadron bomb-aimer F/O
William Howe Newman who had
joined 12 Squadron as a Pilot Officer in June 1943. He
had flown as part of W/OE. W Smith's crew and was with the eight
Lancasters brought in from 12 Squadron's 'C' Flight in
November 1943 to form 626 Squadron's 'A' Flight, with
Squadron Leader Roden as their Flight Commander.

Having already
flown 22 missions with 12 Squadron, Bill had only eight
more to complete with 626.His first trip at the new squadron was on the
18th of November with W/O Smith in DV177 and the
beginning of the Battle of Berlin. On the 28th of
January 1944 he successfully ended his operational tour
in Lancaster JB599 flying with twelve other aircraft
from 626 Squadron again raiding their least favourite
target, Berlin. (see crews
page for W/O Smith's crew)

An account has
already been related in Dennis West's interesting book,
'To Strive and not to Yield', describing Bill's part in
the origins of626's squadron crest.

"One
person of note was F/O Bill Newman. He was an ex-12
Squadron bomb aimer and thought it was right and proper
that the new 626 Squadron should have a badge and motto,
so he took it upon himself to bring this about and give
the Squadron an identity. The inspiration for the badge
and motto came from Bill's schooldays and his interest
in museums and art.
Tennyson's poem 'Ulysses' had stuck
in his mind and the last line seemed to be what he was
looking for. After a slight alteration so that it would
fit on the space provided on an RAF badge, "To strive,
to seek, to find and not to yield" was altered by Bill
to read "To Strive and not to Yield".

The next
part was the badge itself and here Bill's knowledge of
museums came into play.

Keeping
with the theme of the motto, he paid a visit to the
British Museum to find out about Greek galleys of the
type Ulysses would have sailed, according to mythology.
At this time in 1943 the Museum exhibits were long
removed to a safe place to escape the blitz, but help
was at hand in the form of Mr Norman Keyte of the
department of Greek and Roman Antiquities. He had
photographed everyone of the pieces in his charge before
placing them in safe custody. After sifting through
volumes of catalogues and photographs, Bill came across
what he was looking for: a picture of a vase made in 460
BC, with Ulysses and his ship painted on the side. The
painting on the curvature on the vase suited the format
of the RAF badge and with a little adaptation Bill's
idea became a reality. 626 Squadron had a badge. "

Fast forward
to November 2010 and the ultimate ' Cash In The Attic'
story – the Chinese vase that sold for £53.1 million at
auction. Tony and Gene Johnson watched in astonishment
as the price for their porcelain artefact soared to 40
times its estimate in a West London saleroom packed with
Chinese bidders less than two weeks ago.

It had been
discovered in a house clearance of a modest suburban
semiin the
London suburb of Pinner following the death of Mrs Gene
Johnson’s sister, Patricia Newman, whose husband Bill
had been the owner. Patricia Newman died in January 2010
and the estate was passed to her 85 year old widowed
sister, Gene.

The 18th
century 16 inch high porcelain vase from the Qing -
pronounced ching - dynasty fetched the highest price for
any Chinese artwork sold at auction.

It had
belonged to decorated wartime 626 Squadron officer Bill
Newman and kept on a wobbly bookcase in his living room
and insured for just£800. When Bill, a retired office supervisor,
died in June 2006, he left the house and its contentsto his wife. The estate, including the vase, was
valued at a mere £135,000.

How the 1740
Qing dynasty artefact originally came into Bill'spossession remains a mystery but friends say he
had an ‘adventurer uncle’ who spent the inter-war years
of the 1920s and 1930s travelling the world and left it
to the family with a remarkable collection of mementoes,
maps, antique travel books and ornaments. It was
probably stolen when China’s Imperial Palaces were
ransacked by British troops during the 19th Century
Opium Wars.

Aforgotten fact about RAF Wickenby is
that for a short period of time it was home to 109
Squadron. This Mosquito Squadron moved there from RAF
Woodhall Spa during October 1945, but after staying only
one month they left Wickenby and went to a more
permanent base at RAF Hemswell on the 27th of November.

Artist and Author, Squadron Leader Jack Currie (1921-96)

Jack
Currie's time with both 12 and 626 Squadrons are
described in his popular book 'Lancaster Target'. He
arrived at Snelland Halt by LNER train en route to RAF
Wickenby on Sunday June 27th 1943.

Currie's first operation was as second pilot to one of
the squadron's more experienced pilots, F/Lt Benjamin
McLaughlin DFC, on a bombing operation to Cologne on 3rd
July 1943. His first operation with his own crew was a
mine-laying operation in the Bay of Biscay in ED414
(Easy 2) on 6th July 1943.

An author of highly
successful books about the RAF's bomber offensive during
the second world war including The Augsburg Raid Battle,
Under the Moon, and Round the Clock (co-wrote with
Philip Kaplan).

He
also wrote three books about his own wartime experiences
- Wings Over Georgia, Mosquito Victory, and Lancaster
Target the last of which brought him to the notice of an
even wider audience when it was turned into an
award-winning BBC television documentary presented by
Jack himself.

Two
further television programmes followed including a
fascinating investigation into airfield ghosts. However
it was as an artist that John Anthony Logan Currie began
his career.

Jack
Currie was born in Sheffield but brought up in Harrow
Middlesex where after leaving school he became
cartoonist on the Harrow Observer. On occasion his
cartoons even made the pages of national publications
such as Punch.

Thrilled by aeroplanes seen at pre-war air pageants Jack
Currie immediately volunteered for aircrew although
while awaiting acceptance he served as an ARP stretcher
bearer and ambulance driver during the London blitz.

Finally in 1941 he was selected for pilot training under
the Arnold scheme in which RAF pupil pilots were trained
in America by the United States Army Air Corps.

He
later described his flying training experiences in his
book Wings over Georgia (1989). He declined a commission
to remain in America as a flying instructor and returned
to the UK as a sergeant-pilot with C Flight of 12
Squadron to take part in the Allies' bomber offensive
over Europe - which by 1943 was building towards its
climax.

Lancaster Target published in 1977 is a brilliant
evocation of those times and the men whose bravery
finally won through. There were however many brushes
with death.

On
his fifth operation to Hamburg on August 2 1943 Jack's
Lancaster was turned upside down and into a spin in
cumulonimbus cloud.

As it
fell both ailerons were ripped off and it was only
through a combination of skill and brute strength that
he succeeded in bringing his aircraft home using only
three engines and rudder.

His
CO immediately recommended him for a Conspicuous
Gallantry Medal which - almost unbelievably - was turned
down. On completion of his first operational tour
however he was awarded the DFC.

In
the last days of the war in Europe Jack was posted to
the Pathfinder Forces 1409 Meteorological Flight in
which he flew Mosquitos.

This
period of his career is described in his book Mosquito
Victory (1983). Jack Currie remained with the RAF after
the war receiving a permanent commission and served at
RAF Lindholme West Kirby in Cyprus and at Syerston. He
retired from the RAF in 1964.

His
work as Civil Defence Officer for Newark lasted from
1964 until the end of the decade when the government
closed down all but the county tier of CD operations.

In
1975 he moved to Easingwold near York as Civil Defence
lecturer at the Home Defence College.

He
finally retired in 1986. Nothing however could diminish
Jack's love for the Lancaster bomber in which he had
served during the war.

"Patiently
they sat down at the long tables and waited for the
briefing officers to take the stage at the front and
inform them of the route, weather expected on the trip,
and the latest intelligence on the enemy defences.
Individual branch officers were also to give information
and advice about gunnery, radio procedures and
frequencies, bomb aiming etc. One officer on 626
Squadron's Intelligence staff was F/O Michael Bentine
who was to become a well-known radio scriptwriter and
broadcaster of 'Goon Show' fame a decade later. " 'To Strive and not to Yield' by Dennis West

Born in Watford,
Hertfordshire, England, Jan 26th, 1922, Michael Bentine
was the second son of an English Mother and a Peruvian
Father (Adam Bentin). Educated at a Folkestone private
school and Eton College he always intended to become an
engineer and scientist, like his father who was a
Pioneer of Aerodynamics and Aero-Engineering with
Sopwith Aircraft.

Since
he was no longer physically qualified for flight, he was
transferred to RAF Intelligence and seconded to MI9 a
unit that was dedicated to supporting resistance
movements and help prisoners escape. In 1942, after
being discharged from Hospital, he was considered to be
physically unfit for operational flying and was offered
an honourable discharge. He refused and was subsequently
offered a commission in British Intelligence, RAF
operations section. In this capacity he served to the
end of the hostilities, with various Allied Squadrons
and Groups, including liaison with the U.S. 8th Air
Force, and operations with Belgian and Polish Squadrons.

He
entered Europe with a fighter-bomber wing, continuing
operations through France, Belgium and Holland, crossing
the Rhine and finishing at Celle, where his wing helped
in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration Camp.
He considers this to be his most horrific wartime
experience.

"A few decades ago we had
The Goons comedy team. They comprised of Spike Milligan,
Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine.
Michael Bentine had a clairvoyant ability that he
expressed in his book "The Door Marked Summer". I came
across the hardback copy in very good condition in The
Oxfam shop in Troon last Saturday. It was selling for
only £2.49 and I had told the shopkeeper I had found it
very interesting when I read my copy years ago signed by
the author. One chapter in particular related to his
wartime experiences in the RAF.

He
was stationed at RAF Wickenby in Lincolnshire with 626
and 12 squadron residing. From page 144, he tells the
story of "Pop".

This
particular story is very similar to many we have all
heard in the past. Sometimes I think a higher authority
determines the outcome of these events. Michael was an
Intelligence Officer at Wickenby. One of his friends was
Flight Lieutenant Arthur Walker (Navigator),
affectionately known as "Pop" because he was 31 and
considered to be senior aircrew. Having just finished
his tour of 30 operations, he was to become an
instructor.

On
Thursday 16th Dec 1943, Michael was granted a 48 hour
pass. He spoke to his friend before leaving and wished
him well. On his return late at night, Michael cried out
"Hi Pop" as he made his way to his Nissen hut. Pop gave
a sign of acknowledgement from a distance of about 35
feet or so as he made his way to his own hut.

It
was not till the next morning that Michael heard Pop had
been killed on returning from a raid on Berlin in which
he volunteered to help a new bomber crew. 12 Squadron's
Lancaster JB715 PH-U had crashed at 23.45 hours at
Hainton 9 miles WSW of Louth Lincolnshire on that
Thursday 16th Dec 1943. All on board perished.

Dennis West's book describes the night of that Berlin
raid on the 16th of December 1943, known as 'Black
Thursday' in Bomber Command history, as a particularly
bad one with No 1 Group losing 15 aircraft altogether.
The tired crews on their return to the UK after over
seven hours of nerve-wracking flying, found themselves
facing the most appalling weather conditions. They
attempted to land at night in cloud and heavy fog. Of
the 483 Lancasters taking part in the Berlin raid, 29
were lost having crashed or been abandoned when their
crews parachuted.

626 Squadron were fortunate
in losing no aircraft or crew but 12 Squadron's JB715
piloted by Australian F/Sgt H.R.H Ross crashed after
flying into trees in low cloud at Hainton, near Louth in
Lincolnshire at 2354 hours and all on board, including
the above-mentioned F/Lt Walker, lost their
lives.

Richard Dimbleby CBE (25 May
1913 – 22 December 1965)was an English journalist and broadcaster widely
acknowledged as one of the greatest figures in British
broadcasting history.

During the
war, he flew on some 20 raids as an observer with RAF
Bomber Command, including one to Berlin, recording
commentary for broadcast the following day.

In 1945, he
broadcast the first reports from Belsen concentration
camp. He also was one of the first journalists to
experiment with unconventional outside broadcasts, such
as when flying in a de Havilland Mosquito accompanying a
fighter aircraft raid on France, or being submerged in a
diving suit, and also describing the wrecked interior of
Hitler's Reich Chancellery at the war's end.

On October
14th 1944 he was at RAF Wickenby. That night he flew as
an observer with 12 Squadron on W/Cdr Stockdale's crew
when the Thyssen Steel Works at Duisburg was bombed.

One of the
Flying Control officers at Wickenby was a fairly (at
that time) well-known British film actor,
Colin Tapley (1907 – 1995).

Born in New
Zealand, he served in the Royal Air Force and an
expedition to Antarctica before winning a Paramount
Pictures talent contest and moving to Hollywood.

He acted in
several films before attempting to return to Britain in
1940to help
the war effort.

He found that
he could not find transport direct from the United
States due to war restrictions and so enlisted in the
Royal Canadian Air Force.

He found
employment as a flight instructor due to his past
experience in the Royal Air Force and was later
transferred to Britain as a flight controller. After the
war he returned briefly to New Zealand before returning
once again to Britain to renew his acting career.

His most
famous role was as William Glanville in The Dam Busters,
and he also appeared in "Angels One Five" which starred
Jack Hawkins.. He spent much of his later career
typecast as a police inspector, a role he played in
several films and TV series before retiring to
Gloucestershire.

Wickenby's Runways taken in 1945. The long east-west
runway is left to right along the bottom.

He
was born on 24 August 1921, the youngest of three
brothers, in 1921 in London, where his father was head
gardener at the private gardens in Ladbroke Square. He
won a scholarship to Latymer Upper School and in 1939
began to read history at Merton College, Oxford, where
he also took up bird ringing and joined the University
Air Squadron. Without completing his studies he was sent
for aircrew training to Canada and the United States. He
had been called up to join the Royal Air Force in August
1941 and was commissioned as a pilot officer on
probation in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 19
March 1943.

After
aircrew training in the United States and Canada, he
became a bomb aimer, arriving at Wickenby in November
1943 as part of Wing Commander Philip Haynes crew.W/C
Haynes became the CO of the new 626 Squadron (and later
the Station Commander) and because of his administration
duties the crew were often skippered by New Zealand
Squadron Leader Johnny Neilson.

On
the Berlin raid of February 15th 1944 when flying in
Queenie 2 their aircraft was hit by flak and one piece
missed the lower part of Eric's body by only a few
inches.On the 26th of April 1944, at 26,000ft over
Essen, their aircraft, piloted by Johnny Neilson, was
hit by five incendiary bombs dropped from another
bomber.

Fortunately none of the bombs had ignited, not having
fallen far enough for the strikers to overcome their
creep springs and fire their detonators.Less
fortunately, Dick Tredwin the mid-upper gunner had
received a direct hit to the head, rendering him
unconscious. Johnny Neilson reduced height to ensure
Dick received oxygen and he regained consciousness long
enough to leave the turret and collapse by the exit
door, where Pip Phillips and Eric Simms found him; Eric
remained with him.

The
Lancaster then limped back to RAF Wickenby where an
ambulance and fire tenders were standing by.Johnny
Neilson landed the aircraft with great skill and the
badly injured gunner was speedily transported to the RAF
hospital at Rauceby. After a long convalescence Plymouth
born Dick Tredwin returned to duty at Wickenby. It would
not have been easy, his 24 year old wife Beryl had died
only a few months earlier during child-birth.

He
went on to complete his service and was Flt Lt Tredwin
DFC when leaving. While at RAF Wickenby he met and
married WAAF Sgt Valerie Powell.

I am
grateful to 'Pip' Phillips for his first-hand account of
this action. T.B

Out of the 27 operations Eric
Simms and his crewmates flew from Wickenby, nine were to
Berlin.On 14 November 1944 Eric was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross, the citation praising his
"skill and determination which have been an inspiration
to the crews with which he flies" and a "complete
disregard for danger in the face of the heaviest enemy
defences". After demobilisation, he worked as a teacher
in Warwickshire, and served on the research committee of
the West Midland Bird Club. He then worked for the BBC,
initially as a wildlife sound recordist, before making
more than 7,000 radio broadcasts and hundreds of
television appearances. He was a passionate believer in
bringing natural history to a wider audience, and was a
resident naturalist at the BBC. He is credited with
starting the Countryside radio programme in 1952. As a
guest on Desert Island Discs in 1976, one of his eight
choices was a recording of a blackbird he had made near
his London home. Eric Simms also appeared in Sir John
Betjeman's 1973 TV documentary Metro-land, about the
Metropolitan Railway line running northwest out of
London. He was featured birdwatching in Gladstone Park,
near to his home in Dollis Hill.

In
1980 he and his wife Thelma (who was Section Officer
Thelma Jackson, WAAF, when they married) retired to
South Witham, near Grantham, Lincolnshire. He died on 1
March 2009. Thelma had died in 2001.

12 Squadron bomb-aimer F/O
Campbell Muirhead arrived at Wickenby in early
May 1944.

On entering
the Mess for the first time, I was surprised to see, in
the ante-room, an Austin Seven parked there on the
carpet. A P/O told me that, actually, it belonged to his
navigator. When I observed that the ante-room didn't
seem the ideal parking place for a car he added that,
well, his navigator didn't actually know it was there.

Evidently his
crew, who had done 20 ops, had been rewarded with 3
days' stand-down: his navigator, together with an oppo,
had decided to take off for London: this oppo also had a
car and they decided to save petrol by both going in
his.

The
navigator's Austin Seven had therefore been left in a
small parking space just outside the ante-room.

Some bods
decided that it was making the place look untidy: they
measured the Mess outside door; also the door to the
ante-room. They concluded that, if they unscrewed both
doors from their supports, and removed certain parts of
the Austin, they could just squeeze it in. Which they
did. Once in, they put back the parts of the car they
had removed. So there it stood in all its glory on the
ante-room carpet.

I noticed that
somebody thoughtfully had placed a copy of The Times
underneath the engine to protect the carpet from oil.

A couple of
days later the car had vanished. Whether the original
removal merchants had put their operation into reverse
or whether the owner and cronies had removed it, I do
not know.'The Diary of aBomb Aimer' by Campbell Muirhead.

After the war
Pilot Officer David Oliver, who had served at RAF Wickenby, wrote

Morale was
high throughout the period that I was at Wickenby. An
efficiently run station and intelligent leadership,
including inspiration from a few whose exploits were
legendary, helped a lot.

Some other
factors predisposed to high morale. The average age of
aircrew was twenty or twenty-one and very few had the
close attachments and responsibilities of wife and
children. We were just as well educated academically as
the young men of today hut we were less socially and
politically aware.

We had not
experienced the clamorous debate in the media on every
conceivable subject, nor the continuous dissection of
authority that goes on today. In the event, we were
united in our belief in the cause and in giving
unquestioning support to those in authority.

We were
intensely preoccupied with our own crew and very
strongly motivated not to let it down. Apart from our
commanders and three or four other crews that were close
contemporaries, we knew few other aircrew on the station
as more than passing acquaintances. The effect on morale
is less severe if casualties are not known to one
personally. By far the highest casualty rate occurred
amongst the very inexperienced crews, whom established
crews were unlikely to know personally.

From the crew of Wing Commander
Haynes and Squadron Leader Neilson - first on left is
F/Lt H B (Pip) Phillips - Flight Engineer, next to him
is P/O Dick Tredwin - Mid Upper Gunner, 4th is P/O Eric
Simms - Bomb Aimer, and 6th is F/Sgt Paddy O'Meara -
Rear Gunner. Framed in the fourth glass pane from the
left is 'A' Flight Commander, Squadron Leader Spiller,
and below the sixth pane is 'B' Flight Commander,
Squadron Leader Neilson. Can you name any
other airmen in this photograph? If you can -please make contact.

Picture kindly supplied by Humphrey 'Pip' Phillips

Squadron Leader
Bill Spiller
The person standing at the back of the 5th photo
down by the map on the first page of your
website is my late father, Squadron Leader
Spiller and is also in the 1st and 6th photos on
the page, third from the left. There are more
details about him on this webpage
http://www.jcproctor.co.uk/josiahlewisspillerdfc.html
Hope this helps. Kind regards, Jeremy Spiller

F/Lt
Spiller took command of newly formed 626
Squadron's ‘A’ Flight on 5th December 1943.
'Bill' Spiller is mentioned in Sqn Ldr Jack
Currie's memoir 'Lancaster Target'. At the end
of his 'tour' with one operation left to do
Currie was expecting to finish with a 'milk run'
to a relatively 'easy' target and was somewhat
miffed when himself and his crew appeared on the
battle order for the attack on Berlin on 28th
January 1944. Jack Currie intended to have it
out with 'Bill' Spiller who suggested that it
would be better to get it over with rather than
'hanging around waiting for their last op
getting more and more jittery'. Berlin was to be
an early (7.00pm) take-off, 'you'll be home by
three, and you're finished before you've had a
chance to worry about it.' All went well
for the Currie crew and as predicted they landed
in the early hours of the morning and a crate of
beer was waiting for them, courtesy of Flight
Commander Sq/Ldr Spiller. Sq/Ldr Spiller's
crew was on the battle order for the next
operation to Berlin on 30th January.

Hello Tom. My great uncle is RAAF F/Sgt J E Atherton
who flew with P/O Reg Welham. He is 13th from the right,
back row in the group photo. Matthew Eddison

Hi Tom, I came across your interesting and
informative website whilst browsing for
information about RAF Wickenby, where my
grandfather was station in 1944-5 as chief
steward in the sergeants’ mess.

I too have a photo of the 12 and 626
Squadrons, and my grandfather has labelled four
of the men pictured – Hutchinson, Kimmet, Wise
and Butcher.

It’s difficult to pinpoint/describe them to
you, so I have attached a copy of mine so you
can see the labelling. I know that Pilot Officer
John Butcher’s memoirs are in a booklet at RAF
Wickenby Museum, and Wise is Sgt Fred Wise. My
information from Anne at the museum is that
their crew was made up of Sgt P/O Byne, Sgt F
Wise, P/O John Butcher, F/S R Mogg, P/O G
Wilson, Sgt J Francis and Sgt J Legge, but I
can’t identify any more of them from the photo.

I hope this may be of interest to you.

Regards, Liz Dandy

'Full Moon Tonight' music video My father ( Noel Knight) flew with Bomber
Command and after he died we found notes that he
had kept – not even my mother knew anything
about them. I used them and other books I read
as inspiration for song lyrics which have since
been recorded by Grant Luhrs. Even though the
song has been around for some time now Grant has
decided to use it as the title track for his
latest album as he gets a tremendous response
when he plays it live. So I decided to make a
film clip for the song using material available
on the net. I have been staggered at the
response I have received since I posted it a few
days ago. I have included the
Youtube link to it so if you feel it
appropriate you might like to put it on your
site. Thank you and keep up the good work.
Peter Knight

The last days of 626
Squadron, May 1945. I have the complete photo. It was
kindly contributed by Paul Bates from Canada, whose
father, RAF F/Sgt. Walter Bates DFM, is pictured. Please
contact me if you recognise anyone.

Should you have a relative
shown and would like an enlarged section, please send me
an email.
tom.bint2@gmail.com

Acknowledgements

I first started work on these
pages several years ago as part of my own family history
research web-site. I needed to know more about my late
father Sgt Tom Bint who was killed with all his crew
when 626's squadron CO, Wing Commander Quentin Ross,
piloted Lancaster HK539 to Berlin on the March 24th 1944
raid.

I was on fairly familiar
ground as I myself had served on RAF ground-crew working
as an air wireless mechanic for four years in the second
half of the 1950s. At our radio school, RAF Yatesbury in
Wiltshire, they at that time were still using the
R1155/T1154 radio equipment from Lancasters as a primary
teaching aid (these being the years before transistors
etc). There was also, if my aging memory is accurate,
the fuselage of an old Lancaster with its electrical
equipment intact in a distant corner of the camp still
being used by instuctors.

I am, though, forced to mention that I did not see many
similarities with that equipment when working on V
bombers at RAF Gaydon later in my RAF career.

At the time I began my
research there was already a decent amount of
information about RAF Wickenby both on-line and in book
form.

My principal source was Dave Stapleton's original 626
Squadron web-site. He had carried out a huge amount of
research and was for several years extremely helpful
with encouragement, assistance and information. When his
site sadly closed down, I felt there was definitely a
need to 'pick up the baton' and so commenced work on
626-squadron.co.uk.

Books proved to be another
mine of information. Dennis West's 'To Strive and not to
Yield' was the most informative, and Jack Currie's
'Lancaster Target, and 'Rear Gunner Pathfinders' by Ron
Smith really helped to give me an idea of what it was
like to be on a Lancaster aircrew during 1943-44. I have
to acknowledge the generous help and photographs from
Humphrey 'Pip' Phillips who was with Wing Commander
Haynes' crew.

I should also acknowledge the
work of those volunteers at Wickenby. Both Anne Law and
Tim Brett have helped with numerous requests from
aircrew's families and are, with good reason, regularly
praised by correspondents to this site.

I must not forget to mention
where the bulk of my information has come from. Without
the steady flow of photos and anecdotes from 626
Squadron aircrews' relatives and friends, there would
not be a quarter of the pages so far up-loaded.

Should you wish to copy anything from these pages, and
you are not doing it for commercial gain, please feel
free. I do not pretend to claim ownership to any of this
material.